The Enterprising E-baby

The World Wide Web and all its wonder have kids as early as toddlers developing their own enterprising ideas! Indulge me as I share the toddler tale of my niece’s enterprising venture.

The pint size three year old princess woke one day on the proverbial wrong side of the bed. Nothing would surpass her cajoling chatter today, least of all her older teenage sister! As her mother, an avid E-bay maniac sat posting her wares for the day; she could hear her littlest princess morphing into Alice in Wonderlands Queen of Hearts bellowing her demands down the hall. She thought for sure any minute she'd hear the demand for the relinquishment of her elder daughters head! As she started to get up to intervene and break the barrage of bickering, there was silence followed by giggles of lighthearted play. As suddenly as the relief from silence was realized, so too was the sense of bewilderment from her daughter’s capricious attitude adjustment. Nevertheless, she thought, why question it. For whatever reason, peace once again reigned supreme in the household.

Before completely finishing her thought, in came the little princess seeking assistance in locating her digital camera. Channeling her inner Annie Liebowitz, she explained to her mom she wanted to take some pictures of her sister. “Isn’t that nice mommy?" she asked. Acknowledging her daughters benevolent gesture, she found and gave her the camera. With camera in hand,the digital diva went off on her photo shoot. Working it like a pro, she proceeded to build her portfolio of her sister's smiling face. As she printed her pictorial spread, her whimsical demeanor quickly diverted to a serious and steadfast mission. Completed, armed, and ready for business, she presented her masterpiece to her mother and shouted her demands, "Here you go Mom, now post it and sell her on E-bay!”

Through the Eyes of Child!

I am always enlightened in the presence of a child. Lessons are revealed to me everyday through the eyes of my granddaughter, Lillyanna. Her exuberance and innocent approach to life never ceases to amaze me. Lilly is now seventeen months old, but at a mere 9 months old, her love of music and movies were inherently apparent. She became fixated with a ritual of watching, as she calls it with her nose crinkled up and her eyes gleaming, "my mobee"! This movie would be Walt Disney's, Enchanted.

The movie begins as an animated picture. It begins with, Giselle, lovingly creating a visualization of her dream prince, Edward. In true Disney fashion, she meets, falls in love with and prepares to marry him all in the same day! Aha!, but there is a twist, the evil stepmother, Queen Narissa, meets up with Giselle on her way to marry the prince and pushes her down a well. The story is altered to a Real-Life World in New York City's Time Square. This new world transformation leaves her somewhat confused and disoriented, but never wavering in her belief that Prince Edward will find her and bring her back to Andalasia. Now enters, Robert & Morgan. Robert, a divorce lawyer in NYC, is in complete contrast to Giselle's character. Robert has no belief that fairy tales even exist. Morgan, his daughter, despite her father, has unwavering belief in the magic of fairy tales. Bill Kelly's incredible screenwriting, skillfully unfolds a tale that leads Giselle's through a journey of self discovery throughout the feature. As the story continues, you see the development of the characters alter their course as obstacles and roadblocks are presented along their journey. In the end, Giselle discovers her new experiences have led her to new desires and possibilities, ones she never even imagined existed. In comparison, Robert learns that perhaps fairy tales do exist and that letting go of inhibition can lead to new possibilities.

In point, life will undoubtedly present obstacles and roadblocks along our journey. Obstacles are presented to us as lessons. Embracing the lessons can be difficult but they offer us an ability to experience new things and grow. What children inherently know, and teach us everyday, is that "seeing is not Believing," "Believing is Seeing". The key in life is to remember this and know that searching for our dreams may lead us to destinations and experiences that we could not have imagined, if only we Believe!

Perception is Everything!

I wanted to share a story my sister told me today about her experience on her recent flight to Florida. As she prepared to take what would be considered a relatively short flight to Florida, little did she know she would be venturing into what she would describe as "one of the worst flights she has ever experienced."

As the plane sat on the runway preparing for take off, she began to feel sick to her stomach. As the engines started and the flight departed, the weather became stormy and unsettling. With the weather becoming increasingly worst, the turbulence on the plane grew more intense, as did her nausea and unsettling in her stomach. The more the plane shifted and bounced, the sicker she became. People were actually beginning to gasp with tension and fear of how their flight would unfold. Were they going to land safely? Would they live to see another day? The fear mounted, the tension increased. Finally, the pilot announced their approach to the airport. As the plane positioned and approached the runway to land, nails were grasping the arm chairs, breath was held, silence was so intense you could hear nothing but the roar of the engine. Touchdown!! "We made it!" she and her friends exclaimed. As my sister and her friends hurried off the plane through the tunnel, they rehashed how that was the worst flight they had ever taken. Along side of them they noticed a small boy with his mother jumping up and down ecstatically. They stopped to see what had peaked his excitement and heard him in all his enthusiasm exclaim, "Mom, Mom, that was the best flight ever!" "Can we do it again, can we!" "I had so much fun bouncing up and down all over the place, please mom, can we do it again!!"

They could hardly believe their ears, but had to laugh. Perception is everything! Children have an innate ability to see life through rose colored glasses. They remind us from their light within that life is what we make it. It is our perception that determines our happiness in the way we look at the world. We all have the power to eliminate our fears simply by turning our perception around. So the next time you feel fear creeping in, remember to put on your rose colored glasses, and see life through the eyes of a child.